Question

What causes gear shift to be stuck in park?

Pressure on the pawl due to parking on an incline, shifter interlock, or brake switch failure could be some of the reasons why the gear shift might be stuck in park.

When an automatic car gets stuck in park mode, it’s usually because the parking pawl is broken. When the car is in “Park,” the parking pawl stops it from moving by accident. It looks like a lever and turns a special parking gear connected to the transmission’s output shaft.

The common causes for the gear shift to be stuck in “Park” are:

Pressure on the Pawl Due to Parking on an Incline

When parking on a steep slope, the parking pawl of a transmission can be put under a lot of pressure as it wedges into the parking gear. When this happens, the parking pawl and parking gear hold the whole weight of the car. Because of this, it’s often difficult to move the car out of “park,” leaving drivers stranded.

Shifter Interlock

Engineers usually put a shifter interlock system in every car so that it can’t be shifted into drive or reverse by accident. This interlock prevents the shifter from being moved out of “Park” until the brake pedal is pressed. But sometimes interlock systems fail when they are set to “engaged.” 

Brake Switch Failure

Most cars have a shifter interlock that can only be disengaged by pressing the brake pedal. A brake switch tells this system when the brake pedal is being pressed. If this switch doesn’t work, the interlock function could be hurt. Most of the time, a car’s shift interlock works as if the brake pedal had never been pressed.